Raising Him Together
by lilyevanspott3r
Summary: Laughing, Lily said, "You don't have to pamper me. I'm pregnant, not a celebrity." "Why, what kind of a husband would I be if I didn't pamper you?" he asked, shaking his head. "A bad one, that's what." Lily is pregnant with Harry. Please read and review!


**A/N: Just some short James/Lily fluff, post-Hogwarts. Please review, if you will!**

**Oh, and obviously I don't own any of the characters of Harry Potter. I just like to toy with them.**

A soft sigh escaped the lips of the redhead as she laid down on her back, staring up at the white ceiling. Finally. It had taken a little over two and a half hours of work, but at least she'd finished painting the nursery – for the most part, anyway. All of the walls of the room had been painted over the chipping mustard yellow color with a few thick coats of sky blue. The majority of the work that needed to be done had been done, but there was still the trim to paint and the ceiling panels to work on. But there was plenty of time for that; she had another two months, at least.

She tilted her head to the side, glancing at the half empty buckets of blue paint that were sitting on a tarp in the corner of the room. Paint rollers and masking tape lay beside them, each splattered with specks of blue and balls of dust from when she'd cleaned out the furniture from the room earlier in the morning.

Lily gave another audible sigh. It was only two in the afternoon and she was already feeling wiped out. The prospect of having to get up and clean some more only brought a frown to her lips. Crawling right into bed and sleeping the rest of the day away seemed more inviting at the moment, but it had to be done. Who else would do it if not she?

Lily stood carefully from the wood floors, one hand clutching her swollen belly. Perhaps it would've been a better idea to paint the nursery a few months earlier. She would have been able to stay on her feet for longer periods of time. But it _was_ just like her to procrastinate the housework that needed to be done. She may have been an overachiever in school when it came to her work ethic, but that all went out the window when she'd first learned of her pregnancy. She shook her head, clucking her tongue at herself in scolding and brushed the dust and dirt off of her back once she was up on her feet.

As she walked towards the corner of the room and went to bend down and pick up the dirty paint rollers, a pair of slender arms wrapped across her bulging belly from behind. A small escaped her lips as she looked over her shoulder towards her grinning husband.

"What did I tell you about doing all this extra work?" he scolded gently, placing a delicate kiss on the tip of her nose.

"James," she said with a sigh. "Just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I'm completely helpless, you know. I can still do things around the house."

"Maybe so," he said, slipping his hands on her waist and turning her to face him. He wound his arms around to the small of her back, pressing his lips to her cheek. "But I don't want you to overexert yourself. Not good when you've got a bun in the oven." He pulled back slightly, giving her a curious look. "Why aren't you taking this opportunity to laze around the house, anyways?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

Lily made a face. "I hate not being able to do as much as I usually can," she whined, placing a palm on her stomach. "I feel like a useless lump on the couch with you running around all the time, getting things done the way you do."

James laughed. "Of all things, you're worried about me being busy when you're as big as a balloon with a baby. Stop worrying over how much cleaning you're doing and focus on keeping this- " He put his hand over the one of hers that had been on her stomach. "-healthy and well."

"I can't do both?" she asked jokingly.

James smirked. "I'm sure you could if you wanted to," he said. "But take this as an opportunity to relax." James blinked, the smirk slowly fading from his face as he glanced down at Lily's stomach. The grin reappeared, broader than it had been before.

"That'll never cease to amaze me," he mumbled, taking in the feeling of his unborn child's foot pressing directly against his palm. The feeling was indescribable. Every kick he felt was like he was feeling it for the very first time, and his eyes would light up with excitement the same way they had the first time he'd felt it.

Lily smiled. "As much as I know you're enjoying this," she said, "my feet are kind of killing me right about now."

"Right," he said, abruptly being pulled from his thoughts. He laced his fingers with hers as they made their way to the living room. Lily immediately collapsed onto the sofa, stretching her legs out across the cushions. James lifted up her legs and slid onto the cushion at the other end of the couch, letting her prop her feet in his lap.

Laughing, Lily said, "You don't have to pamper me. I'm pregnant, not a celebrity."

"Why, what kind of a husband would I be if I didn't pamper you?" he asked, shaking his head. "A bad one, that's what."

"You've never been a bad husband," she said, rolling her eyes. "Intolerable at times, but never bad."

James laughed. "Well, it's good to hear I've done something right. I was beginning to believe I was a complete failure at everything I did."

For a long moment, the two stayed silent, no words passing between them. Lily had grabbed a copy of _Witch Weekly_ from the coffee table and James was staring down at his feet, absentmindedly rubbing one of Lily's thighs. After a while, James glanced up at her with a small, "Lily?"

Lily looked up from the magazine in her hands. "Hmm?"

James chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully before answering.

"I'm worried," he admitted. "I mean... What if I'm just a screw-up? A total screw-up as a parent? I don't want our kid to turn out the way I did, the way I was in school. God, I was obnoxious and awful and just... mean."

Lily blinked in surprise. He was worried about this?

"I can't see why on earth you'd think you would screw up a child," she said honestly.

"You know why," James muttered. "I was never responsible. You hated me for a good six years running. I played stupid pranks and got detention every other week, practically, and I _never_ did schoolwork. I'm such a bad influence!" He looked away, a genuine feeling of dread crossing over his face.

Lily smiled throughout all of what he was saying to her. Once he was finished, she asked simply, "Want to know how I know you won't be a screw-up as a parent?"

James gave her a look of confusion, nodding slowly.

"Because you're worried. That's enough for me to know you're not going to screw up. If you're honestly that scared about things, I know you're going to do the best you can to raise our child with good values. And you know what else?"

"What?" James asked, scooting closer to her and pulling her over to sit on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her stomach, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I'm just as worried about screwing up as you are," Lily said.

James scoffed, smirking. "You? Perfect little Lily Evans, top of the class for seven years straight and Head Girl in the last year, you're worried about screwing up a child?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well raising a child is a bit different from brewing Potions and studying the history of goblin labor laws."

James laughed at her response, burying his face into her neck. "Well, then, I suppose we can just raise our child as a screw-up together. He'll be just like mummy and daddy."

Lily chuckled under her breath. "You're a nutter."


End file.
